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WMCN
WMCN-TV, virtual channel 44 (VHF digital channel 12), is an independent television station serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States that is licensed to Princeton, New Jersey. The station is owned by WRNN-TV Associates. WMCN's studios are located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and its transmitter is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia. The station is carried throughout the market by DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon FiOS and on most Comcast Xfinity cable systems. WMCN is also carried on cable in Ocean County (part of the New York City television market) on Xfinity channel 27 in standard definition, and on digital channel 794 in high definition. History The station first signed on the air on May 29, 1981 as WWAC-TV, originally licensed to Atlantic City, New Jersey and broadcasting on UHF channel 53. The station changed its callsign to WMCN-TV in 2003. In 2009, the station was rebranded as "Get It On TV Philadelphia" to reflect its focus on the entire Philadelphia market, not just Atlantic City. Most of the station's programming consisted of infomercials, many of which were produced by WMCN for local companies. The remainder of WMCN's schedule is filled with several hours per week of regional faith-based telecasts as well as children's and community interest programming. In 2011, WMCN obtained rights to broadcast games from the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul, broadcasting a majority of their regular season games on the station. In 2012, the station was once again rebranded as "WMCN44," signaling a shift towards a more traditional independent station. WMCN also added several syndicated programs to its schedule, including Cold Case Files, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Punk'd. On September 10 of that year, WMCN announced that it would produce three new original weekly series: A New View, an issues-oriented show hosted by former WTXF-TV (channel 29) personality Dawn Stensland, Tolly's Awesome Friends, a series centered on noteworthy locals hosted by ex-WTXF sports director Don Tollefson, and Philly Sports Spotlight, a locally focused series hosted by former WPVI-TV (channel 6) sports anchor Phil Andrews. On December 4, 2014, voluntary assignment of the station's license was changed from Lenfest Broadcasting, LLC to WMCN License Holdings, LLC, which will have exactly the same ownership structure as Lenfest. In the fall of 2016, WMCN added programming from Newsmax TV during the 4–6 p.m. and 8–9 p.m. hours, as well as nightly broadcasts of the Cowtown Rodeo and motorsports newsmagazine Raceline TV, plus the weekly Ring of Honor Wrestling series. In the FCC's incentive auction, WMCN-TV sold its spectrum for $63,144,027 and indicated that it would enter into a post-auction channel sharing agreement. On July 14, 2017, NRJ TV, owner of WPHY-CD, agreed to purchase WMCN for $6 million; on July 24, 2017, it assigned its right to acquire the station to WRNN-TV Associates in a deal not filed with the FCC until December. On February 14, 2018, WMCN entered into a channel sharing agreement with PBS member station WHYY-TV (channel 12); as the WHYY signal does not reach Atlantic City, WMCN has changed its city of license to Princeton, New Jersey. Category:Independent stations Affiliates Category:New Jersey Category:Pennsylvania Category:Channel 44 Category:Television channels and stations established in 1981 Category:Princeton Category:Philadelphia Category:WRNN-TV Associates Category:UHF Category:1981 Category:Other Pennsylvania Stations Category:Allentown/Reading/Bethlehem, PA Category:Former NTA Film Network affiliates Category:Television stations in New York Category:New York Category:New York City Category:Atlantic City Category:Harrisburg Category:Lancaster Category:Former DuMont Affiliates Category:Newark Category:Scranton Category:Wilkes-Barre Category:Other New York Stations Category:Former Bounce TV Affiliates Category:2003 Category:Wildwood Category:York